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WASHINGTON, DC – Legislation that would provide federal employees with four weeks of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child passed the U.S. House of Representatives tonight by a margin of 258-154, (C-SPAN reporting).
“Today we show that this Congress doesn’t just talk about family values—it values families,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), prime sponsor of H.R. 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act.
“As more families are relying on just one paycheck in these times, we
can’t afford not to help them in this way. The federal government
should join the majority of the private sector-- including 75 of the
Fortune 100-- by enacting workplace policies that invest in employees
and their children. In passing my bill and sending it to the Senate,
the House has helped make ‘family-friendly’ the law of the land.”
“It’s
just unacceptable that right now the U.S. is the only industrialized
country that does not provide support for federal workers with a new
child. 168 countries are ahead of us, and we are tied with Lesotho,
Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland,” said Maloney. “Families and
family values are a top priority for President Obama and with his
signature, our workforce will soon have comparable standards to
professional private sector employees—and the rest of the
industrialized world.”
The Federal Employees Paid Parental
Leave Act (H.R. 626) was introduced by Representatives Carolyn B.
Maloney (D-NY), Frank R.Wolf (R-VA), Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer
(D-MD), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY), and Subcommittee on Federal
Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia Chairman
Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA). There are 55 co-sponsors in total. Senator
Jim Webb (D-VA) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate (S.
354).
Background. Federal employees currently receive no paid
time off specifically to care for an infant or newly adopted child. If
they have a new child and want paid time off, they have to cobble
together accrued sick days and vacation time.
By failing to
provide paid parental leave, the federal government lags behind both
the private sector (53 percent of private-sector employers provide some
form of paid parental leave), and other industrialized nations; the
U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not provide support
for all workers with a new child.
The landmark Family and
Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, grants twelve weeks of UN-paid leave
to parents of newborn or newly adopted children.
Organizations
that support the bill include: the American Federation of Government
Employees (AFGE), the American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Federally Employed Women, Moms Rising,
the National Partnership for Women and Families, and the National
Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).
For additional information on
“The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act,” including a
comprehensive background memo on the legislation, please visit:
http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=263&parent=21&Itemid=35.
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